1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an IC card connecting mechanism for connecting an IC card and a connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Recently, there has been developed an IC card containing ICs (integrated circuits) comprising memory elements, such as RAMs (random access memories), and control elements, such as CPUs (central processing units), and having a terminal array including connection terminals connected to the terminals of the ICs, for electrically connecting the ICs to external equipment.
In the incipient IC card, the terminal array including connection terminals for electrically connecting the ICs to external equipment is exposed. Accordingly, the terminal array can become soiled to result in incomplete contact of the connection terminals with those of the external equipment, and in some cases, the ICs can be destroyed by static electricity because the terminal array can come in contact with the hand of a user.
To obviate such accidental disadvantages, recently an IC card having a terminal array covered with a housing, namely, a so-called connector (Type A IC card), and an IC card having a terminal array covered with a terminal protecting member which slides horizontally backward to expose the terminal array when the IC card is inserted in external equipment (Type B IC card) have been developed.
However, it is difficult to form the type A IC card in a compact and thin construction, because the terminal array is covered with a thick housing to form a connector.
The type B IC card needs additional parts, such as a coil spring and parts for holding the coil spring, to maintain the terminal protecting member horizontally slidably at the closed position, and additional time necessary for assembling such additional parts increases the cost of the IC card.
Furthermore, since only a narrow space is available in the IC card for the terninal protecting member of the type B IC card to slide, guide grooves along which the terminal protecting member slides are liable to be clogged with dust to hinder the smooth sliding movement of the terminal protecting member.